Anton Sugar
Member
Plus, Mars is the terraformed capitol of the Federation
That doesn't mean it won't be part of Horizons... that just means it won't be out in this first batch of content.I'm a sad panda now, i would have hoped it would be a part of horizons even if later down the road. Oh well bought anyway
Edit : Hmmm just to confirm, is Mars eligible for horizons landing for instance (permit aside) ? The word "Atmospheric" confuses me.
I'm in the same boat as far as "wait and see" goes, but isn't the expansion $45 after the $15 loyalty discount? If each expansion is $45, that's about four years worth of content for the $195 pass, right?
That doesn't mean it won't be part of Horizons... that just means it won't be out in this first batch of content.
Man, I wish we just had a long term road map, lol.
Ah okay. Glad to have it cleared up then! Still not a bad thing, though. That kind of stuff takes a massive amount of dev time haha. Plant life. Animals. Rivers. Clouds. Weather. Etc.A dev (not Braben) has very specifically said, and reiterated when asked for clarification, that atmospheric planets are not a part of Horizons, at all.
A dev (not Braben) has very specifically said, and reiterated when asked for clarification, that atmospheric planets are not a part of Horizons, at all.
Yep, saw that. So Horizons will be one expansion, landing on planets with air will be a second expo at the end of 2016 most likely, walking will be a third in 2017, and we have no idea what comes after that.
Walking around sounds a bit like it should be part of the atmospheric planet landing expansion. What's the benefit of landing on a city spaceport otherwise, if everybody only moves about in the rover?
Actually I'd expect walking to be the showcase for season 3, starting next year: They need a hook to push people towards upgrading. Then again, we could also get to do some walking around after one of the Horizons updates, who knows.Yep, saw that. So Horizons will be one expansion, landing on planets with air will be a second expo at the end of 2016 most likely, walking will be a third in 2017, and we have no idea what comes after that.
Yep. No issues here.Any of you guys playing on Win10 yet?
Getting a super weird sound bug when I disconnect my X52, every input to the mouse or keyboard creates "chirps", and I have to reboot to get rid of it.
As you can all imagine, its been a busy week here and Im sure that youre all as excited by the announcement for Elite Dangerous: Horizons as we are! Weve been working hard on this release for some time now so its a good feeling to be able finally talk about it. I hope youll indulge me a little if I take this weeks dev update to talk more about the teaser trailer and whats coming with the new Elite Dangerous: Horizons season, and the first expansion of that season, Planetary Landings.
This first expansion kicks off with the ability to land on airless planets and moons. Its a great technical step forward, and more adds a huge amount of gameplay.
Gameplay extends seamlessly from space to the surface, so that you and your Wing can take a mix and match approach to tackling missions. It also adds new types of missions to engage in. Scanning planets and moons from space is used to detect signals, crashed ships, mineral deposits, outposts and fortresses. Playing alone or with friends on the ground and in the skies above, you can explore, mine and engage hostile forces as you attempt to infiltrate strongholds guarding valuable rewards.
While flying above the surface in Orbital Cruise you can discover points of interest like landed ships and surface installations. There will be star ports on the surface which can be docked at, although you can land anywhere on the surface that takes your fancy long as the terrain is appropriate, all without loading screens or breaks in gameplay.
As you approach the planet surface the effect of gravity kicks in and changes the flight model and so giving you a new set of flying skills to master. And the 1:1 scale planets and moons take our fantastic simulation to a new level, allowing you to swoop though canyons and skim mountain-tops.
For closer interaction you can deploy a Surface Recon Vehicle (SRV) and drive to locations to discover new points of interest. The SRV allows you to get to places where your ship cant and to interact with new elements for mining, exploration, combat and missions. This really extends the scale of the game downwards to something more human-sized and you can appreciate how big even a Sidewinder is compared to the SRV, and how truly huge the planets are.
The first SRV is the Scarab that you see at the end of the teaser trailer. The Scarab is designed to cross the roughest terrain and has some very cool features, such as thrusters to help jump gulleys and surmount obstacles. The thrusters are also very useful for pushing you down onto the surface in low gravity environments, to give you grip where you need it.
Of course its a lot of fun just to blast round, explore and just take in the views, but again its both a new set of skills to learn and gameplay possibilities to integrate with the rest of Elite Dangerous. SRVs are very small, and difficult to track by flying spacecraft, and enable you to tackle some of the fortifications youll find planetside in a different way from what you can do in a spaceship.
There is a lot for even the most experienced pilots to get their teeth into, and of course theres also the simple joy in being on the surface and watching the sun rise above the horizon (hence the name!). Im looking forward to seeing the incredible new screenshots people will be able to share.
As with our previous major updates, the Elite Dangerous: Horizons season of content is more than just the headline features. We will also continue to expand and build upon what is already in game. This will include missions, player roles and events in the galaxy, and many other features we have not yet discussed.
Some of these additions will be exclusive to Elite Dangerous: Horizons season owners (and if you have the lifetime expansion pass then you of course get it automatically). Others may be more fundamental, or are needed for the whole player-base so will be available to all players.
Throughout the season there will be major updates adding features and content. One example, which we will be talking more about in the near future, is a new loot and crafting system which again we expect to transform the gameplay experience.
For now this is just a quick dip into whats coming. Well reveal more details as we progress.
We have always been very clear about our intentions for paid major gameplay updates like this as we continue to deliver on our roadmap, and so developing the game towards our long term goals. And in 2015 we still have CQC to release on PC and Mac in September alongside the full Xbox release, and a further update at the time of Elite Dangerous: Horizons launch that will bring our total of playable ships up to 30!
What we are doing is new in many ways, both technically and in terms of how we are realizing our long term ambitions for Elite Dangerous. As we evolve the game we are trying to give the best value we can to both existing and new players, for the long term benefit of everyone. Thats why weve worked hard to keep backwards compatibility for the Elite Dangerous: Horizons season, and are continuing to release updates for season one players. Everyone will continue to fly in the same galaxy, and be impacted by, participate in and help to drive the same events.
Visited the ED subreddit for the first time in a while, and hoooo boy, that place has turned into a dump. Incredibly toxic.
Reddit dump:
Horizons footage coming!!!...next week.
First pic of Cobra Mk IV (from GC show floor):
Mk III for comparison:
Dev update:
tl;dr
- Land on airless planets and moons--adds a "huge amount" of gameplay
- Re-confirms that transitions from space to surface are seamless
- New types of missions available: scanning planets/moons to detect signals, crashed ships, mineral deposits, outposts and fortresses
- Strongholds/fortresses will be guarded by enemies and contain valuable rewards
- When flying above in "Orbital Cruise" (official name?), you can discover landed ships and surface installations
- Star ports on surface allow easy docking but you can dock anywhere as long as terrain is appropriate
- No loading screens or breaks in gameplay when landing on surface
- Effects of gravity on flight model forces you to develop new set of flying skills
- Planets/surfaces will have variety of surface features (specifically mentions canyons and mountain tops)
- Surface Recon Vehicle (SRV) helps you discover new points of interest; gets to where your ship can't
- SRV used for mining, exploration, combat, and missions
- Say the SRV brings things down to a more relatable scale; Sidewinder will dwarf it
- First SRV: Scarab, designed for roughest terrain and has thrusters to help jump across terrain
- SRVs are very small, difficult to track in spacecraft
- Can watch sunsets from planets (sounds like landing doesn't affect the system simulation in any way--still intact)
- Horizons is not just planetary landings: "missions, player roles and events in the galaxy, and many other features we have not yet discussed". Some of these will be exclusive to season pass owners but some may make it to "base" game as well
- CQC releasing for all platforms in September
- Next big update for E (outside of Horizons) is the Ships update, bringing ship total to 30
dat scarab
No walking till Season 3 more than likely.
No walking till Season 3 more than likely.
Awesome, all of this.
Do you know if it will be possible to walk on a planet or we will be "limited" to a cockpit view [SRV]?
I imagine that the first person mode will come with the EVA expansion...but who knows...
Visited the ED subreddit for the first time in a while, and hoooo boy, that place has turned into a dump. Incredibly toxic.
As long as 1.5 brings me the Imperial Cutter I'll be a happy camper... spacer.
How are we supposed to explore pirate bases inside a SRV? I think walking around will be close to landing release.
How are we supposed to explore pirate bases inside a SRV? I think walking around will be close to landing release.
I have no idea how they handle this but I hope someone thinks to ask them. I have to assume that you'll be taking strongholds via attack ships and SRVs, and SRVs will have cargo retrieval mechanisms or something like that.
I'd be very surprised if first person walking is implemented as part of Horizons.
I'm still not sure what a "stronghold" is, nor what it means to "take" one in Elite Dangerous. Sounds more like something you'd do in Dark Souls.
Players will be able to land anywhere on airless and uninhabited worlds, rocky or icy, moon sized or planetary sized. Gas giants and inhabited worlds will come in the future. These celestial bodies have already been generated to be as realistic as possible, using real data where available. All solar systems already released in season one were created after real-world principles, taking aggregation of matter in a system, planets colliding with each other, tidal heatings and bodies orbiting, into account. Volcanoes in Elite Dangerous are not random nor are they procedurally generated, but placed for a reason. Just like on earth, volcanoes can bring valuable resources to the surface to be exploited. Or “someone else can mine it for you and you can steal it from them”, David Braben, Founder and CEO of Frontier Developments, described merrily.
The first revealed vehicle is the Scarab, a Surface Recon Vehicle. Buggies will be able to go up to around 100 miles per hour.
In order to maintain a single community, players will be able to form wings across seasons. Elite Dangerous: Horizons content will affect Power play, therefore also affecting players without the second season. After all, everyone is inhabiting the same universe.
It would be a lot weirder if we couldn't form wings with all players. Like in any MMO, if you have all the expansions, nothing stops you from playing earlier content with players who don't.
Also, that eagle is sexy. I hope 1.5 comes with a bunch of fed ships. Because, you know...imperials are scum.
I'm not sure what design feature screams "Imperial" more - the white/blue color combo, the curved hulls, or the widely spaced engine pods that always have hardpoints in them. I'd kind of like a departure from the last feature though. The Interdictor doesn't have engine pod thing going on, and the first two traits are enough to define the signature style.I wasn't too familiar with the Cutter, so I looked it up. Had no idea this is going to be the Imperial version of the Anaconda/Corvette.
Also, that eagle is sexy. I hope 1.5 comes with a bunch of fed ships. Because, you know...imperials are scum.
As to design...not our fault the fed ship designers have no imagination.
You're getting the Fed shoebox mk II and fed gunship (7 hardpoints) for sure.
As to design...not our fault the fed ship designers have no imagination.
If you want sexy ships then come join the glorious Empire.
You're getting the Fed shoebox mk II and fed gunship (7 hardpoints) for sure.
As to design...not our fault the fed ship designers have no imagination.
If you want sexy ships then come join the glorious Empire.
Heh, no one ever said they were practical!"Check out our sexy ships with terrible hardpoint placement and even worse firepower!"
Bah, seems there was a mixup. No Horizons footage coming next week.
It makes sense. This game is very much about making your own fun. It's definitely not for everyone, especially if they're not that into space stuff.The topic on Horizons scared me. Someone saying that he was bored of Elite with a Rift in 3h of gameplay, while it's probably true, it makes me sad.
I think 3h of Elite was just my first session in it with the DK2 on my head...
It makes sense. This game is very much about making your own fun. It's definitely not for everyone, especially if they're not that into space stuff.
What kinda bothers me is when people claim it's barely a game or that it's nothing but a Euro Truck Simulator in space.
Before 1.2 it was severely lacking in basic features, but even then it was still a better value than most $60 games.
It makes sense. This game is very much about making your own fun. It's definitely not for everyone, especially if they're not that into space stuff.
What kinda bothers me is when people claim it's barely a game or that it's nothing but a Euro Truck Simulator in space.
Before 1.2 it was severely lacking in basic features, but even then it was still a better value than most $60 games.
Was about to pull the trigger on a HOTAS setup, but wanted to check to see if there is a definitive best choice for the game. Right now the x52 Pro is on sale on Amazon.
Was about to pull the trigger on a HOTAS setup, but wanted to check to see if there is a definitive best choice for the game. Right now the x52 Pro is on sale on Amazon.